Manual ROADM front panel configuration

Abstract

With Reconfigurable Optical Add Drop Modules (ROADMs) gaining popularity in the fiber optic market, many network designers are seeing the benefits of this technology. But the industry standard has been to make ROADMs automatically configurable, which adds considerably to the cost. Significant savings can be achieved by creating a manual ROADM for locations that do not require frequent configuration changes. This is achieved using a unique front panel configuration of a simple Optical Add Drop Module (OADM) system.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . Wavelength Division Multiplexers (WDMs), that can be either Coarse (CWDM) or Dense (DWDM), are placed together in a configuration that has all of their channel's fiber connections going to a front panel, where the channels fiber connections from all four WDMs are placed next to each other for reconfiguration. 
     
     
         2 . The invention in  claim 1  wherein one of the WDM mux/demux fiber pairs are labeled “West” and the other fiber pair is labeled “East.” 
     
     
         3 . The invention in  claim 2  wherein the individual fiber output channels of the “West” WDMs are paired, using a standard dual connector, with the individual fiber input channels of the “East” WDMs; as well as the individual fiber input channels of the “West” WDMs are paired, using a standard dual connector, with the individual fiber output channels of the “East” WDMs. 
     
     
         4 . The invention in  claim 1  wherein all the channel outputs and inputs may be connected with a Variable Optical Attenuator (VOA). 
     
     
         5 . The invention in  claim 1  wherein a short piece of fiber optic cable connecting the two ends of a duplex connecter (loop plug) can be inserted into the ports to allow a channel to pass through the ROADM with minimal insertion loss. 
     
     
         6 . The invention in  claim 1  wherein an optical monitor port can be placed on the common fibers to allow for network troubleshooting and configuration. 
     
     
         7 . The invention in  claim 1  where the front panels fiber connectors are uniquely configured to allow channel reconfiguration using loop plugs.